After more than seven hours of emotional and passionate testimony from hundreds of residents, community activists and elected officials, the Chicago Plan Commission voted overwhelmingly to approve the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday afternoon.

The decision was a major hurdle for the Obama Foundation, but it is just the beginning of a long process before any construction takes place.

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The center is envisioned as a 19-acre campus made up of three buildings: a museum tower that will reach 235 feet and eight levels, a forum building that contains a 300-seat auditorium and a third building that will be used as a public library branch. There will be an underground garage and athletic center and an outdoor plaza and winding landscape.

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.